Draft appliance for automobiles.



G.- V. DE PEEL.

DRAW APPLIANGE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1912.

1,054,831 Patented Mar. 4, 1913.

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Y O i mijml, ii i Q 1 O @g1/Wenko@ Wmme@ f /ef www G. V. DE PEEL. DRAFT APPLIANGB FOR. AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILED MAR.1B.1912.

l Patented 11121114, 1913.

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UNIT-'EDsTATEs PATENT Ormea.

GAYvIO'rOR nn PEEL, OF OROQKER, sOU'rH DAKOTA. i

' DRAFT APPLIANOE Fon AUTOMOBILES.

To all who/m, t may concern: l

Be it known that- I, GAYVICTOR DE-IEEL,y

ka citizen of .the United States, residing at Crocker, in the countyof Clark and State of `South Dakota,I have invented certain new and useful Improvements' in yDraft Appliances for Automobiles; and lI do declare the following. to be av full, clear, and exact'de' scription ofthef'invention, such as will en,- able others skilled in the art to which 1t ap- -pertains to make and use the saine.

f' This invention relates toy motor vehicles,`

and'more especially to starters; and the objectof the samey is to produce an improved draft appliance; for attachment more partical section showing said spool' as attached to the disk. Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view, i

partly' in section, illustrating one form of the friction guide; and Fig. 7 is asimilar View illustratinganotherform, the rope beingv indicated 'in boththese Views as somewhat larger than the opening thro-ugh the guide. 4

In Fig. tomobile A having a bumper rod B forward of its front wheels F, the machine in the present case having power-driven rear wheels R as usual. It is well known that automobiles occasionally .become `stuck in the mud or snow, and the driver'nds' considerable `dii'iiculty in getting started although after the machine is once started it runs with'ease. The present invention is designed to be employed on occasions of this kind, and consists of a rope leading from a suitable anchor or stake driven in the roadway through a tension or friction guide carried at one extremity of the bumper rod to a windlass or spool detachably mounted. on the hub of the rear wheel. As most automobiles have diiferential mechanism between their two rear wheels so that one could spin in the mud or snow while the 4Specification of LetterskPatent. I l

Application filed March 18, 1912.` Serial No. 684,429.

l of the drawings is shown an au-` Otlierstood still, my improved draft appliance is made'inV duplicatel and used .on both sides'of the machine, although I need" describeits constructionand use onone" side only.'A 'y 'Coming now more particularly to "the prCSent-invention, a ring 1 issecuredtothe outer side of veach rear wheel around itshub 2, and upon thering is permanently secured a disk 3 which is wider than the ringso as Patented Mar. 4', 191,3.

to overlap vit as shown. In the overlapping vport-ion of this disk is 4formed a number of circumferential slotsy 4, each of whichfhas an enlargement or eye 5 at the center of its length. Three'v such slotsa're shown inthe' drawings, and the arrangement just `described prevents the accumulation of dirt or -inud wit-hin them becausethe ring holds the disk away from the wheel and thel slots are o-pen at the rearend as shown. For each wheel I provide a windlass or spool 6 whose bore is of a'size to adapt it to be assed over the hub, and the inner flange o this spool has a notch orv other device 7 for attachingfa rope thereto and a number of headed studs 8 so disposed that the through the eyes 'or ,en argem'ents of lthe may beipassed slots in the disk, after which the spool`is .turned slightly thereon in'either direction to bringthe shanks of saidstuds' into 'one `end of the several slots and hold the spool upon the disk. i

The numeral 10 designates a rope which may have 'a knot 11 formed in one end `so that it can be det'achably engaged with the notch in the spool, after which the rope is given one coil around the latter: vand led thence forward alongside the automobile .to an anchor which may be, ar stakelldriven in the roadway some distance infront of the machine as indicated in Fig. 1.

When theautoist becomes stuck in the mud or snow, he has but to attach the two spools to the hubs of his rear wheels, then attach the ropes to the s ools and lead them forward, and finally sin z the stakes and atspo tach the rope to them; then on starting up the motor. the rot-ation of the rear wheelsl causes the spools to -act as windlasses which wind up on the ropes and draw the machine forward out V'of the place where it has become stuck and to 'a posit-ion where the tires of its driving wheels will engage the surface of the roadway with sufficient reliability to make the necessity for this invention no longer l apparent. The driver then dis- 4the friction 4comes out of place,

mounts and detaches thc attachment (which can be readily carried in a tool box); and proceeds on his way.

Another feature of my invention whose application and use is also well illustrated in Fig. 1 consists in the provision of friction or tension guides at the ext-remities of the bumper rod B, through which the ropes are rove between the spools and the anchors. Each device of this character may be a metallic tube 15 with enlarged ends 16, the whole carried on a bracket 17 attached to the bumper rod as shown in Fig. 2, and the smallest diameter of the tube between its extremities being such that it will frictionally engage the rope used so that the latter does not slip therethrough too freely. Or, as shown in Fig. 7, I may employ a pulley 18 whose wheel stands so close to its frame 19 that here also some friction or tension is applied to' the rope in its passage therethrough, and this pulley will be connected with the extremity of the bumper r'od in the same manner. If desired, the brackets may be made detachable from the bumper rod so that theyalso can be stored away in the tool box when not in use, and to this end I show the bracket as connected with the bumper rod by means of a bolt 20 as t pical of one form of detachable connection between them. I might here add,

' although t-he same is not illustrated in the drawings, that if the machine has no pumper rod this friction guide or device cbuld possibly be attached to some other part o'f the automobile frame near its front end. The use of the draft appliance is the same as above described, but with the addition of this detail the ropes are rove through guides between the spools and anchors. When now the Inoto-r is started, each rotating spool acts as a windlass and draws on the rope which is pulledthrough the friction or tension guide until it becomes taut, and then the automobile is forcibly drawn out ofthe position in which it was stuck, as described above. As t-he machine however, it will usually start forward with a bound, and the addition of this feature to my invention prevents it from running onto and over the ropes and tangling them up with the wheels, because the friction devices hold the ropes taut .between themselves and the pulleys. Moreover the stiffness of. the ropes usually prevents them from winding well onto spools as small as these must be, and the tension devices will therefore serve in the nature of guides and prevent the ropes from being accidentally thrown off the outer ends of the spools.

All parts of this device are by preference of metal excepting the ropes, and while I have shown simple pegs as used as anchors I do not limit myself thereto. Such changes in det-ails may be made as do not depart from the principle of the invention.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a windlass detachably secured to the hub of the rear wheel of an automobile, and a rope connected to the windlass and adapted to be led forward to an anchor infront of the automobile; of a friction guide carried by the forward portion of the automobile and through which said rope is adapted to be drawn.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a windlass detachably secured to the hub of an automobile' driving wheel, and a rope connected to the windlass and adapted to be led forward to an anchor in the roadway in 'front of the automobile; of a tension guide carried by the forward portion of the automobile and through which said rope is adapted to be drawn with some degree of friction, the same consisting of a pulley whose wheel is disposed at such a distance from its frame that the rope binds somewhat between them, a bracket by which the pulley-frame is carried, and means for detachably connecting the bracket with the automobile structure.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GAY VICTOR DE PEEL. Witnesses:

GEORGE C. GRIFFIN, WILLIAM M. ALPIN.

Copies of tliis patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington', D. C. 

